


To Love Him is to Care for Him

by Bella_Monoxide



Series: To Love Him is to Care for Him - Storyline [1]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No ZA, Established Relationship, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Protective!Daryl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2015-04-16
Packaged: 2018-03-23 07:27:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3759631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bella_Monoxide/pseuds/Bella_Monoxide
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Rick has an awful day, Daryl is there to take care of him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Love Him is to Care for Him

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RickylLover](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RickylLover/gifts).



> Some fluff for the lovely RickylLover. I hope you enjoy this surprise story that came to my mind while I was on the train today.

Daryl was worried. Rick had been spending a day with his son, Carl, and was due back home by now, but still had not shown up yet. Furrowing his brow, Daryl began to pace the yard in front of their house, trying to get rid of some of his nervous energy.

Normally he would not worry about Rick like this, just because he was a little late, but Rick's ex-wife was still real bitchy about Rick's new relationship, even though it was none of her business to begin with. After all, it was her who cheated on Rick in the first place, got pregnant with a girl in the process and went to re-marry right after the divorce was through.

The father of Judith happened to be a guy Rick had spent some of his freetime with, drinking and shooting pool together with a couple of mutual friends. Shane owned a company, working in security.

Most of his jobs where in Atlanta, so Lori moved herself and the kids there, leaving Rick with no choice but to move as well, if he wanted any chance at seeing his son on a regular basis again.

Since Rick happend to love Carl dearly and tried to be a good father to him, he moved into a small house on the outskirts of Atlanta. The outskirts were important – not to himself so much, but to Daryl, who by then had been his newly aquired boyfriend and happened to love the outdoors.

And that was the point in Rick and Lori's already strained relationship where shit had really hit the fan.

Carl, after a short period of adjustment, was totally cool with his dad having a guy at his side, especially such a cool one as Daryl. He knew him right from when their relationship started, because Rick and Daryl both made it a point to include Carl and not to withhold anything from him either.

Daryl liked Carl a lot and would have wanted to spend more time with him, teaching him how to track or other stuff that Daryl was really good at, but they never had much time with each other, since Lori went damn near hysterical once she found out about the fact that her ex-husband's roommate was way more than just that to him.

Of course, finding out by herself accidentally did not help to keep things civil at all. Shane had played a part in that as well, whispering stuff about 'those Redneck Dixon Brothers, always up to no good' into her ear from the moment they knew who Rick would be sharing a house with.

So now, whenever Rick had Carl for a day or two – which was way less than he would have liked to have him in the first place – Lori talked Rick's ear off, trying to make him give up his visiting rights and what not, while Rick was totally unsatisfied with the way the divorce judge had ruled custody over Carl.

Whenever he met her or Shane, Daryl had the hardest time holding back by now, he longed to give them a good show of just how much of that Dixon Redneck was in him exactly, because he was so mad on his partner's behalf.

To him, Rick was the nicest, friendliest guy one will ever meet, and he could not understand how anyone could hate him and try so hard to destroy his new relationship, or make him forfeit the rights to his son.

After all, even his brother Merle genuinely liked Rick, calling him Officer Friendly all the time. And for Merle, who had some serious run ins with the law in the past, that spoke for itself. So, pacing back and forth now, Daryl feared for the worst.

He looked up when he heard the sound of a Harley, coming closer on the drive towards their house. Apparently, Merle had decided to drop by for a visit. Arriving in the yard, Merle killed the engine, kicked the stand down and dismounted, then walked over to where his brother stood, waiting to greet him.

Daryl noticed a scowl on Merle's face, and before he could open his mouth to ask him about it, Merle started to talk.

"You need to come with me, Dare. Your boy got into a fight with that darn ex-wife of his, and it got real nasty. Now he's sitting in the café all shaken up and she left with Carl, taking him to the hospital. You gotta hurry up and go get him!" He all but shouted in that gruff voice of his.

Daryl, who had already been in the process of dugging the keys out of his pocket and was half way over to the truck, turned around, a look of alarm on his face. "What happened to Carl?!"

"That damn woman knocked the dishes over and Carl got shards stuck in his arm, far as I could tell from my spot in line at the counter." And Merle cursed along with Daryl, their vocabulary rather colourful.

Both men made quick work of starting their vehicles up, no further coordinations necessary between the two brothers, who knew each other inside and out. Merle would drive to the hospital while Daryl would go and get Rick, then drive to the hospital as well.

* * *

Albeit that was a good plan, when Daryl arrived at the café, he saw immediately that Rick was in no condition to go anywhere else today. He went over to his boyfriend, put an arm around his shoulders and helped him up, so he could guide him out and into the truck.

On their way he asked a waitress if Rick owed anything, but he had already paid, so they went outside. Once they were situated in the truck, Daryl buckled Rick in and got his cell phone out to call Merle.

"Oh man," Merle said after listening to Daryl's description of the shape Rick was in, "that bad, huh? Take him home, Dare, take care of your man. I'll try and find out about Carl." With that, both Dixons hung up, and Daryl started the truck, driving Rick home.

Back at the house, he helped him out of the car and they went into the house together. After they had made it to the bedroom, Daryl hugged Rick tightly, never wanting to let go again, seeing as his man was so unhappy.

After a few minutes of them standing together like this, with Rick crying on his shoulder, he told him that he would prepare a hot bath for him. Rick tried to hold Daryl back, desperate for the contact, but Daryl guided him to the chair and went to the bathroom to get the water going for Rick.

He went on to the kitchen, preparing a mug full of hot chocolate for Rick who had quite the sweet tooth, and proceeded back to the bedroom after he had placed the cup in the bathroom.

He found Rick curled up on the bed, his shoulders shaking. Daryl touched him gently and turned him around, then he helped him out of his clothes, caressing his skin with the lightest of touches. When Rick was naked, Daryl pulled him up from the bed and walked him over to the bathroom, making him climb into the tub.

He sat with him for a few minutes, just holding his hand, then went outside to call Merle, who appeared to be very pissed off.

"These clowns, I swear! I'm practically an uncle to the kid, but they tell me nothing! I even tried to talk to Lori, asked her how Carl was, but she just screamed accusations at me!"

Daryl thought he must have misheard. His brother had willingly talked to that woman, or tried to, anyway? He was impressed, especially with Merle's ability to contain himself – or did he..? "Merle?" He asked tentatively.

"What?" Came the barked reply.

"You didn't do anything stupid, did you..?"

"Believe me, I wanted to! That woman needs a good spanking if I ever met one that does!"

Both brothers had witnessed enough fights between their parents, growing up in a bad home in an even worse neighbourhood and would never raise their hand against a woman. Merle's troubles during his teenage years were mostly due to him having the wrong friends. He got back on the right track eventually and now the brothers co-owned a Harley garage in Atlanta.

So, coming from Merle, this could only mean one thing – Lori had been beyond annoying. They hung up and Daryl went back inside to Rick.

"No news, they didn't tell Merle anything. I'm sorry, Rick." He told his partner, who looked utterly miserable.

Daryl began to wash Rick with soft, caring hands, then he went on to wet his hair so he could wash that for him as well. When he massaged Rick's scalp, his partner closed his eyes and sighed in bliss.

Too soon for both their liking, Rick was showered and wrapped up in a fluffy towel, and Daryl tucked him into bed. Daryl did a few household chores, then went back to check on Rick. He found his partner all curled up in a cuddly blanket, but still awake.

Rick looked up at him, a hopeful look on his face. "Dare?"

Daryl sat down on the bedside, taking Rick's hand, caressing the back of it with his fingers. "Yeah? Do you need anything?" But Rick seemed to be reluctant to say anything else. Daryl looked at him thoughtfully, while Rick cast his eyes down, blushing.

Knowing his boyfriend as well as he did by now, Daryl knew that Rick could not voice his need for physical contact, but wanted it nonetheless.

Daryl quickly undressed and got into bed as well, snuggling up to Rick, pulling him close. After a minute, he began to touch him everywhere, rubbing up and down his arms, chest and legs.

When he felt Rick relax more, he decided to try something naughty by tweaking a nipple, which made Rick moan quietly, and he squirmed in Daryl's arms, trying to turn around to face his boyfriend.

Daryl touched Rick's hair, then went on to caress his back with long, slow strokes of his hands. Rick began to moan steadily, and Daryl decided to take things a little further by placing his hands on Rick's tight butt, kneading his cheeks, accidentally on purpose moving his fingertips down his crack, lightly brushing his hole in the process.

Rick bucked up his butt in an attempt to enhance the friction. Daryl chuckled and moved away, leaning over towards the bedside table, trying to get the massage oil out of the drawer. When he had managed to fish it out, he rolled Rick over on is stomach, then straddled his butt.

He poured a bit of the oil into his hand to warm it up, then proceeded to work it over Rick's back, trying to knead all the knots and kinks out. This was an activity that left Daryl with a feeling of deep satisfaction, the swift movements almost meditative in their effect.

Rick loved being touched that way. He always felt like Daryl's love for him poured through those magical hands into his own body.

Weird, he thought in a daze, that a guy like Daryl, who works on bikes all the time, could be so gentle with his hands... Shortly after that, he stopped thinking altogether.

Daryl got off of Rick's butt, moving to lay down next to him. Rick opened his eyes to look at Daryl, and they got lost in each other's eyes, until Daryl started to kiss Rick. At first his kisses were all sweet and lovely, but they got more heated soon enough.

With one hand tangled up in Rick's curly hair, the other holding tight to his lower back, Daryl soon felt like inhaling his boyfriend, and he moaned into Rick's mouth, who moaned right back, gripping Daryl's upper arms tightly.

"Dare," Rick whispered into Daryl's ear hoarsely, "I need you." And Daryl understood exactly what he meant by that.

Slowly moving his hands over Rick's chest, further down his belly and down that line of hair connecting his belly button with his groin, he reached his hard length and took it in his hand, moving up and down the shaft with light strokes.

Rick lay on the bed, his eyes closed, groaning out for Daryl to please hurry up. Daryl got up into a sitting position, then bowed down towards Rick's cock, licking up a drop of pre-cum that had pooled at the tip, which earned him a low moan of pure bliss.

Being on the right path, Daryl proceeded to make Rick feel good by taking the head of his dick into his mouth, circling it with his tongue and sucking lightly, while his hand continued to move up and down. He added another sensation by carefully grabbing Rick's balls and rolling them in his hand.

When Rick tried to buck his hips forward in order to intensify the sensations, Daryl pulled away, leaned over Rick, and grabbed a bottle of lube from the bedside table. He looked at Rick, whispering to him. "Are you sure you want this?"

Rick looked right back at him, his love for Daryl clearly visible in his eyes, and answered "yes, Dare, please. I want you to make love to me."

That was all Daryl needed to hear, and with a little twist of his hand, he unscrewed the bottle, poured some lube on his fingers and pulled Rick's cheeks apart with his other hand, bringing the lube to his tight hole, rubbing it in, which made Rick moan in pleasure.

Soon enough, one of Daryl's fingers slipped into that hole, moving around, widening it a little. Then another finger joined the first one, and Daryl touched Rick's prostate to make him shout in surprise and pleasure alike.

When he felt that Rick was as well prepared as possible, he rubbed lube down his length. He lined himself up and carefully pushed the head of his cock into Rick's lubed up back entrance. At first, he did not push any further, but continued to use only the head of his dick to open Rick up even more.

But when he heard his lover's groaning picking up in volume, swiftly followed by Rick's plea for Daryl to please fuck him, he could not hold back any longer and began to push his cock deeper inside with each thrust of his hips, grabbing Rick's ass with both of his hands. He totally lost it though when Rick looked at him over his shoulder and whispered "I love you so much, Dare..."

Closing his eyes, Daryl moaned loudly while he quickened his pace and soon was fucking Rick at a relentless pace. When he felt that his release was near, he pulled out and grabbed Rick, threw him around, then bowed down to take Rick's cock back into his mouth.

He moaned around it, the vibrations driving Rick wild with want. Soon after, Rick grabbed Daryl's hair with both his hands and pushed his cock into his mouth, coming hard down Daryl's throat, and Daryl swallowed it all, released Rick's cock and pushed his own down his lover's tight hole again, coming moments later, filling him up while he screamed his name.

When his orgasm had finally ceased, Daryl pulled out and went to the bathroom, getting a towel that he dabbed into warm water. He brought it back to the bedroom and cleaned first Rick, then himself up before they got under the covers again, with Rick sighing in Daryl's tight embrace.

Kissing his head, Daryl told Rick "You know I will never let you go again, right?"

"Well," Rick answered in a sleepy voice, "I was rather hoping that." And he smiled one of those dazzling smiles that made Daryl forget to breathe.

"I love you, Rick." Daryl kissed his partner passionately, and thought to himself that he would call a lawyer tomorrow, and if it was the last thing he would do. And with his mind made up, he soon fell into a peaceful sleep, holding on to Rick all through the night.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are much appreciated - please let me know what you think.


End file.
